YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Security changes are coming to Youngstown schools and it's more than just adding some officers.   

Over the past few weeks rumors have swirled that Youngstown City Schools are getting rid of the police presence at their buildings.

School district CEO Krish Mohip says the opposite is true, they plan to add more police officers.  Right now some of the elementary buildings have none.

"We want to make sure we have school resource officers in every building. What we are doing is we are going to be shifting so that they are not just going to be in the high schools, they are going to be at all 14 of our schools. They are also going to be the ones who keep the danger from the outside coming in," said Mohip.

In fact, the officer will be the first person a visitor to a building meets as they come in.  It's part of a new security program called "Raptor" that's already being used at schools across the country.

"It's where people will have to check in with a state I.D. and ran through a system to make sure they don't have warrants, to make sure they aren't sex offenders and to make sure we are not allowing an outside threat from coming into our buildings and who better to do that than those who are trained the best," added Mohip.

Mohip says the district will also hire new student encouragers.  He describes this personnel as people that technically will be in charge of discipline but will also try to build relationships with the students in the buildings and encourage them to do better with positive feedback and positive reinforcement. 

Mohip believes these encouragers will make a difference in the schools. 

They plan to fill four of these positions at East and Chaney high schools in the near future.